Perhaps someday Mason Mills will look back upon his final visit to the University of Dayton with fond memories. For now, though, the only numbers the USD senior quarterback was concerned with were the ones lit up on the scoreboard at Welcome Stadium.

Mills set a school career passing yardage record and moved into second place in career touchdown passes, but the Toreros lost to the University of Dayton 45-38 in double overtime Saturday in a crucial Pioneer Football League game.

With his 249 passing yards and four touchdowns, Mills stands with 9,768 career yards and 78 TDs. He broke the yardage record held by current NFL quarterback Josh Johnson, and his scoring tosses are second only to Johnson. On Saturday, Mills completed 24-of-41 passes with two interceptions.

“It validates what we’ve been doing around here, but it’s just a bunch of numbers,” Mills said. “What you remember out here is what the final score was. I know that’s cliché, but it’s the truth. Stats are just numbers. What really matters is what happens out there; you’re grinding, getting cut up on the turf. Nobody’s celebrating about any records tonight.”

USD coach Dale Lindsey had a similar view of the record-setting performance.

“I think records are nice, and Mason’s had a good career,” Lindsey said. “I think if you go in there and talk to him, he would tell you he’d rather have the win than the record. I personally would have rather had the win than him have the record. But he’s done a good job.”

In a game of runs and spurts, the Flyers struck when they needed to, particularly at the end of regulation and in the second overtime period. The Flyers pounded out an 11-play, 87-yard drive and scored on a 9-yard pass with only 27 seconds remaining on the clock to tie the game at 31-31 and send it into overtime.

The Toreros struck first in OT as Mills found Reggie Bell with a 25-yard TD pass on play action on the first snap, a play Mills said they planned on running throughout the game but didn’t have a chance until overtime. The Flyers scored next on a 5-yard run, and Lindsey elected to bring his defense back on the field first for the second overtime, a decision he later regretted.

“We could have gone back to offense, but I thought it would be better if we knew the situation after we put Dayton out there,” Lindsey said. “Looking back on it, it wasn’t a very good move because our defense was too tired. They needed to come off the field and rest.”

The Flyers took the lead for good when they pounded the ball into the end zone with a 1-yard rush by quarterback Will Bardo. The Toreros managed to make it to the 5-yard line with their turn, but on fourth down a Mills pass to Bell in the left side of the end zone fell incomplete.

“We might have had a shot, but we didn’t make it,” Lindsey said. “That’s a big deal.”

San Diego (4-3, 3-1 PFL) opened the game with some aerial power, covering 70 yards on eight plays and ending with a 10-yard pass from Mills to Joe Ferguson. Dayton scored twice, the first a 99-yard drive after Lindsey chose to try for the touchdown instead of the field goal on fourth down. Mills connected with Sam Hoekstra on a 15-yard pass late in the second quarter to send the game into halftime tied 14-14. Mills also entered the locker room just one yard shy of setting the school passing yardage record.

The Flyers (5-2, 3-1 PFL) scored 10 unanswered points in the third quarter, but the Toreros won the fourth quarter with a 17-7 edge; Mills and Brandon White connected on two scoring passes, and David Last had a 38-yard field goal.

While Mills set the records, Ferguson was the workhorse, rushing 24 times for 167 yards and catching five passes for 47 yards and the score. Ferguson delivered a crushing blow to a Dayton defender at the end of a run in the first half, nearly eliciting a personal foul penalty for leading with his helmet from the officials. They reconsidered and determined it was a brutal thumping and nothing more.

“Joe’s a great back, he’s showed it game in and game out the last two years,” Mills said. “It’s nice to have that aspect of the game.”